The head of Yemen’s Supreme Political Council warned British and U.S. military forces that they would be given a destructive response if the slightest mistake is made against the Arab country by attempts to plunder natural assets and energy reserves, similar to what is happening in Syria. 

While addressing a group in Amran, Yemen on Wednesday, Mahdi al-Mashat said, “We have received information about the deployment of U.S. Marines and British troops in our occupied province. We have warned the aggressors that any mistake will draw a strong and crushing response.”

Al-Mashat said that natural resources are a red line for the National Salvation Government and the people of Yemen.

“We will never allow enemies to cast a greedy eye onto them and loot these national and valuable assets.

“We are in possession of various types of unmanned aerial vehicles and missiles,” Mashat continued. “We are also led by someone whose fingers are on the trigger.”

He threatened that a range of homegrown naval weapons was test-fired recently in the Red Sea, striking fear in the hearts of Yemen’s enemies. According to Mashat, foreign tankers have recently been warned by Yemeni naval forces against approaching the Port of Aden. Yemen’s navy has already thwarted plans of attempts to plunder Yemeni natural gas. 

“Last week, we engaged in a bitter confrontation with two vessels,” the senior Yemeni official said. “They were seeking to anchor in the Port of Aden with an intent to loot Yemeni gas. They beat a hasty retreat four times, the first of which happened the previous day.”

He noted that Yemeni naval forces warned that the owners of the Bolivar and Sinemar Jin tankers faced dire consequences if their captains chose to moor in the Port of Aden and that naval units were ready to strike on a second’s notice if they made a mistake. 

Mashat also disclosed areas of America’s anti-Yemen schemes for the next couple of years. He said that the U.S. is hell-bent on creating misery for the Yemeni people, similar to what they have done to Iraqis and Syrians in years past. 

Mashat said that the American embassy in Aden is poised to absorb several distinguished Yemeni personalities and figures in 2024, holding seminars abroad with their participation. He warned that the diplomatic mission would establish what they call “civil society organizations” to advance the U.S. plots. 

Saudi Arabia launched a brutal war against Yemen in early 2015. The Saudis enlisted assistance from regional allies, including the UAE, along with large shipments of advanced weaponry from Washington and Western Europe. 

Logistical and political support was extended by Western governments to Riyadh in a failed attempt to restore power in Yemen to the country’s former Saudi-installed government. 

Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, the former Yemeni government’s president, resigned from his position in 2014 before fleeing to Riyadh during political conflicts with Ansarullah. A Saudi-installed government has run Yemen’s affairs without a functioning administration ever since. 

Tens of thousands of Yemenis have been killed in the war that has turned the country into one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world.